Tuesday, December 16, 2025
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from URL Media's network of Black and Brown publishers.
This week, let’s talk about Trump’s education policy, the visa rule affecting cross-border sports, teacher diversity and more. And as always, we’re bringing you the latest updates at url-media.com.
Credit: Black Girl Times / Shutterstock
Trump's education policy disproportionately affects Black women, too
The Trump administration just reclassified a bunch of professional degrees as "non-professional," and it's hitting Black women especially hard. Nursing, physical therapy, social work, and accounting are all getting downgraded, which means students in these programs could lose financial aid. Here's the thing: these are the exact fields where Black women have been making major gains. They're nearly 12% of the federal workforce and represent the largest group of nurses from underrepresented communities.
The timing is brutal. DOGE's federal cuts already cost 266,000 Black jobs in just one month, with Black women taking the biggest hit. Now the degree reclassification threatens to close off the educational pathways that helped lift thousands of Black women and their families out of poverty.
Black women are the most educated demographic in America, earning nearly two-thirds of all degrees awarded to Black students. But between workplace discrimination, DOGE layoffs, and now these policy changes, they're getting squeezed from every direction. Many are ditching corporate America entirely to start their own businesses.
Source: palabra. / Tucson baseball team
Visa rules, Asian researchers, Black veterans on enlistment and more stories from the URL Media network
Visa rules bench baseball team: A Mexican baseball team tried to make history by relocating to Tucson, but visa red tape killed the dream before it started. The State Department suddenly decided players needed special athlete visas instead of their tourist visas, forcing the team to play all their "home" games in Mexico. Kino Stadium sits empty while bureaucracy benches an entire roster. It's the latest example of how immigration policy is messing with cross-border culture, hitting everything from sports to music tours. Keep reading at palabra.
Asian researchers dodge new restrictions: A controversial provision that could have banned Chinese and Asian American researchers from defense-funded projects just got axed from the defense budget. The Safe Research Act would have punished scientists for past collaborations with China that were totally legal at the time, and researchers from 210 universities across 41 states fought back hard. Advocates say it would have tanked American competitiveness by killing international collaboration and opening the door to racial profiling in academia. The policy's defeat is a win, but the fight over who gets to do research in America is far from over. Keep reading at AsAm News.
Don’t enlist now, Black vets say: Black veterans are telling their families to skip military service right now. After Trump fired the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Hegseth purged DEI programs while ordering book reviews on anti-racism, some vets say the military isn't safe for Black Americans anymore. Others argue leaving would be dangerous, ceding control to the current administration. Black Americans make up 17% of active duty troops but only 14% of the population, and many are choosing not to reenlist as the controversy intensifies. Keep reading at Capital B.
Trump sues over teacher diversity: The Trump administration just sued Minneapolis Public Schools over a teacher contract that protects educators of color from layoffs. The provision was created after a 2022 strike to address the fact that seniority rules favor white teachers, but it's never actually been used since the district hasn't done layoffs in over a decade. The Justice Department is also targeting programs like Black Men Teach and anti-racism training. This lawsuit comes after a conservative group lost a similar case in Minnesota's Supreme Court and promised Trump would investigate. Keep reading at Sahan Journal.
Source: iStockOther recommended reading
Five issues in front of the U.S. Supreme Court justices - SCOTUS Blog
Trump’s anti-climate policies are driving up insurance costs for homeowners, experts say - Louisiana Illuminator
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